Ontario Sports Betting
Ontario sports betting is legal and live. The province has 32 licensed online sports betting sites, including BetMGM, Caesars, TonyBet, BetRivers, FanDuel, DraftKings, and bet365, with more likely to follow.
Ontario’s legacy sports betting site is the provincial lottery’s ProLine+, which is still available.
You can use this page to catch up on all the latest about Ontario sports betting, including information about future online sportsbooks, how to place a bet, and what is legal.
As seen in
Best sportsbook apps in Ontario in 2024
Is sports betting legal in Ontario?
Yes. Bettors may wager through many online sportsbooks, most of which also have apps. Betting is also legal via Ontario Lottery and Gaming’s many in-person outlets and its sports betting app, ProLine+.
Ten casinos in the province offer in-person sports betting via kiosks, and one casino, Caesars Windsor, hosts Ontario’s only full-service sportsbook.
Comparing sports betting sites in Ontario
Ontario has the best selection of sportsbooks in Canada, and the list of available apps continues to evolve. It can be tricky to decide which sportsbook best suits your needs, so we have curated the list below based on several factors, including user experience, available betting promos, customer service, and in-app features. Here’s a look at some of the top online sports betting sites available now:
1. BetRivers Ontario
Quickly gaining attention through an expansive marketing campaign in Ontario, BetRivers Sportsbook has a strong selection of prop bets for most games. The app itself can be a bit clunky, but it offers quick payouts and a good menu of betting options.
- App rating: 4.1 (iOS), 4.3 (Android)
- Key takeaway: The app needs some work, but it pays out winnings quickly.
2. BetMGM Ontario
One of the largest legal online sports betting options, BetMGM Sportsbook offers a deeper selection of available sports than many competitors. It also features an “edit my bet” feature that allows you to adjust open bets by adding money to an existing bet, adding legs to a parlay, etc.
- App rating: 4.7 (iOS), 4.5 (Android)
- Key takeaway: “Edit my bet” can provide additional flexibility.
3. DraftKings Ontario
One of the top sports betting platforms in North America, DraftKings Sportsbook combines a sleek app with a great menu of standard bets, props, and live bets. Additionally, with DraftKings betting pools, friends can compete for prizes.
- App rating: 4.7 (iOS), 4.6 (Android)
- Key takeaway: Fast-moving app that’s great for live betting.
4. Bet365 Ontario
Increasingly a top option for bettors across North America, bet365 combines an intuitive app with some of the best odds on the market. Live betting is another mainstay feature of the bet365 app.
- App rating: 4.7 (iOS), 3.9 (Android)
- Key takeaway: Competitive odds.
5. Sports Interaction Ontario
Billing itself as “Canada’s Homegrown Sportsbook,” the Sports Interaction app pushes bets that may be more popular in Canada to the forefront of the homepage. The NHL is usually the first thing you see, but the app has a solid selection of options beyond hockey. Live betting and same-game parlays are popular choices on this aesthetically pleasing app.
- App rating: 4.4 (iOS), 3.5 (Android)
- Key takeaway: User-friendly app.
Gambling can be addictive; please play responsibly. 19+. Gambling problem? Visit ConnexOntario.ca or call 1-866-531-2600 for responsible gambling information. Eligible iGames conducted and managed by iGO are only available to those physically present in the Province of Ontario.
What’s happening now in Ontario sports betting
- Oct. 4, 2024 — Bill S-269, which would create the framework for national guidelines on sports betting advertising, advanced this week.
- Oct. 2, 2024 — The Canadian Senate Transport and Communications Committee met to discuss a bill that would create nationwide guidelines restricting the use of sports betting advertising.
- Sept. 26, 2024 — Ontario plans to develop a self-exclusion program that would apply to every operator in the province.
- Aug. 13, 2024 — iGaming Ontario is reportedly ready to revamp its self-exclusion program four months after starting a search for a developer.
- July 30, 2024 — Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto revealed that he was suspended during the 2023-24 NHL season for proxy betting. Pinto was suspended for 41 games.
- July 17, 2024 — Former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter had his request to play professional basketball in Greece denied by a judge.
Latest Ontario sports betting news
Canada Sports Betting Advertising Bill Framework Advances
As more provinces look to open their sports betting markets, a proposal to create a national framework to limit the industry’s advertising in Canada is advancing. The Senate Committee on…
How to get started at a sportsbook app in Ontario
If you have never bet on sports online or have only used ProLine+, most major sportsbook apps have similar procedures for new users. Creating an account should take only a few minutes, but be prepared to provide additional documents to verify your identity if necessary. For the most part, here’s what to do:
- Download and install the app
- Register for an account
- Make your first deposit
- Place your first wager
You’ll find several options whenever you decide to make your first deposit. Depending on the book, electronic checks, credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal could be among the ways to add money to your account.
Ontario sports betting law
Sports betting has been legal in Ontario and Canada for decades, but most of that time it was only available in parlay-style bets via provincial lotteries.
That changed when Canada’s Parliament passed Bill C-218 — the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act — on June 22, 2021, opening the door for provinces to allow single-game sports betting.
Then, in January 2022, Ontario announced that legal sports betting would launch on April 4, 2022. Several companies, such as bet365, 888, and Unibet, which had previously operated in Ontario’s gray market, jumped into the white market to register with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Online sportsbooks must each pay a $100,000 licensing fee and a tax rate of 20% on sports betting revenue, and they do not have to partner with a brick-and-mortar location. In all, 13 online sportsbooks launched in Ontario on April 4, 2022.
Legal Canadian sports betting consists mainly of the Ontario market, with other provinces offering betting through sites associated with provincial lotteries, as Ontario did with ProLine.
What you can legally bet on in Ontario
Ontario’s sports betting rules are broadly permissive so long as “the bet is not reasonably objectionable.” Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario standards apply to “all sports, esports, novelty, betting exchange, and fantasy sports products, and includes various bet types such as single-event, in-game, pool, parlay, and exchange bets.”
While betting on esports as sporting events is legal, virtual sports count as online casino games under the regulatory guidelines. Note that cryptocurrency is not legal tender for sports bets in Ontario.
List of all Ontario sports betting sites
Right now, there are 32 live sports betting sites in Ontario. That total does not include Bally Bet, which is temporarily unavailable as the company transitions to a new sports betting provider. Below are the current sports betting sites available in Ontario:
- 888 Sport
- Bally Bet (temporarily offline)
- bet365
- Bet99
- Betano
- BetMGM Sportsbook
- BetRivers Sportsbook
- Betsafe
- BetVictor
- Betway
- Bwin
- Caesars Sportsbook
- Casumo
- DraftKings Sportsbook
- FanDuel Sportsbook
- Fitzdares
- LeoVegas
- Lucky Casino
- Neo.bet
- NorthStar Bets
- Partysports
- Pinnacle
- Play Fallsview
- PointsBet
- PokerStars Sports
- PowerPlay
- ProLine+
- Rivalry
- Sports Interaction
- Titan Play
- TheScore Bet
- TonyBet
STX, a real-time betting exchange, is also live in Ontario. STX differs from a traditional sportsbook by allowing users to trade betting markets rather than bet against the house.
Legal gambling in Ontario
Ontarians have had some legal gambling options for decades. The addition of commercial online gambling sites is a recent expansion, but plenty of gambling locations and venues exist in the province. Here are some of the options for Ontario residents:
| Casinos | Ontario is home to 29 casinos, though none are located in the city of Toronto. Some venues offer only slot machines and racetracks while others have slots, table games, bingo, poker and sports betting to varying degrees. |
| Live poker | Poker is available at select casino locations, including Casino Niagara and Caesars Windsor. |
| Lottery | Draw and instant-win games are available through official retailers, and draw games are available via online subscriptions. |
| Online casinos | Slots, table games, and live dealer games are available through OLG.ca, and other online casinos such as BetMGM and BetRivers. |
| Sports betting | Legal sports betting is available in Ontario through OLG’s ProLine+, licensed online books such as Caesars and BetMGM, and at 11 retail locations. |
| Horse racing | Ontario is home to 15 live racetracks and several off-track betting locations, each offering pari-mutuel wagering on domestic and international races. Ontarians also have options for online horse betting. |
| Bingo | There are a few dozen bingo halls in Ontario, and games can be found throughout the week at many locations. |
| Daily fantasy sports | Ontario has 15 live racetracks and several off-track betting locations, each offering pari-mutuel wagering on domestic and international races. Ontarians also have options for online horse betting. |
Where to bet on sports in Ontario
With online sports betting, you can bet anywhere in Ontario where you can find an internet connection within provincial borders. Ontario has 32 licensed online sportsbooks, most of which offer mobile betting apps. Otherwise, people in Ontario have a few options for betting on sports.
ProLine and ProLine+
The province’s legacy retail sports betting provider, ProLine, allows bettors to wager at approximately 10,000 locations across the province. You can bet in-store at authorized OLG retailers such as gas stations and convenience stores or create a bet slip on the ProLine website and present the associated code at an OLG retailer. Additionally, the ProLine+ site and app let you bet online and via mobile devices.
Retail sports betting
There are 11 destinations — all at Ontario casinos — offer some form of in-person sports betting. Great Canadian Entertainment runs 10 of these locations, and the Caesars Sportsbook at Caesars Windsor is the other.
Four of the 10 Great Canadian Entertainment sports betting locations have dedicated sportsbook lounges called Great Canadian Sportsbooks. Those four lounges contain sports betting kiosks while offering food and bar service and an area to watch games. The other six locations have sports betting kiosks within the casino.
Caesars Sportsbook at Caesars Windsor is the only full-service sportsbook in Ontario, although additional options could open at some point.
Full-service sportsbook:
- Caesars Windsor, 377 Riverside Drive E, Windsor
Sportsbook lounges:
- Pickering Casino Resort, 888 Durham Live Ave., Pickering
- Great Blue Heron Casino Resort, 21777 Island Road, Port Perry
- Elements Casino Brantford, 40 Icomm Drive, Brantford
- Shorelines Casino Belleville, 380 Bell Blvd., Belleville
Sportsbook kiosks:
- Casino Woodbine, 555 Rexdale Blvd., Etobicoke
- Elements Casino Mohawk, 9430 Guelph Line, Milton
- Elements Casino Grand River, 7445 Wellington County Road 21, Elora
- Elements Casino Flamboro, 967 Highway 5, Hamilton
- Shorelines Casino Peterborough, 3800 Fisher Drive, Peterborough
- Shorelines Casino Thousand Islands, 380 Highway 2, Gananoque
Ontario vs. Pennsylvania and Michigan sports betting
Ontario is the crown jewel for sportsbooks seeking to launch in Canada. The province is the country’s largest by population, with an estimated 14.8 million residents.
That would make it the fifth-most-populous US state, surpassing Pennsylvania’s 13 million residents. Only California, Texas, Florida, and New York have higher populations.
Pennsylvania sports betting ranks third in handle ($18 billion) and revenue ($1.4 billion) behind New Jersey and Nevada if you measure from the fall of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May 2018 until the end of 2022, but of course that’s giving it a head start on many states.
Ontario also shares a border with Michigan. Legal online sports betting in Michigan launched in January 2021, and with Detroit close to Toronto, it likely caught the province’s attention.
Pennsylvania and Michigan represent a study contrasting how regulators approach fees and taxation. Michigan set its license fee at $100,000, and it taxes sports betting at 8.4% (with an additional 1.25% for Detroit). Each Michigan sportsbook must also pay $50,000 to the state each year. On the other hand, Pennsylvania requires applicants to pay a $10 million fee and 36% of their revenue as taxes. However, the fee is a one-time charge; there’s no annual fee.
Ontario, for its part, has landed between those two approaches. Sportsbooks must pay $100,000 annually as a regulatory fee, which aligns more with Michigan’s approach. However, Ontario charges a 20% tax rate, which is much higher than what Michigan books have to pay, though still less than in Pennsylvania.
Popular sports to bet on in Ontario
Ontario has five pro teams representing North America’s most popular team sports. These five all garner a good deal of betting interest.
It’s no secret that Ontario and all of Canada are crazy about hockey. The two NHL teams located in Ontario are among the most popular teams to bet on and root for in the province. The Toronto Maple Leafs in particular have a large fan base in the province, while the Ottawa Senators have a loyal, if smaller, following.
The Toronto Raptors and Toronto Blue Jays also draw much interest in representing Ontario and Canada in the NBA and MLB, respectively. At the same time, Toronto FC is the province’s leading outlet for pro soccer fans.
NFL and CFL betting
While Ontario does not have an NFL team, the nearby Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions are popular in the province, as are various other NFL teams to a lesser extent.
As for the Canadian Football League, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are known for their legion of diehards, while the other teams in the province — the Toronto Argonauts and Ottawa Redblacks — pale in comparison. The CFL is generally more popular through Alberta sports betting options and throughout the Canadian West.
Ontario sports betting timeline
2024: According to PlayCanada, Ontario ranked fifth behind New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Pennsylvania in terms of total betting handle among North American markets in the last eight months of 2023.
Unibet exits the province on March 26 as part of the company’s move out of all of North America.
Ontario officially banned the use of celebrities or athletes in sports betting and iGaming ads.
The AGCO temporarily banned betting on the World Boxing Association amid alleged suspicious wagering activity.
2023: By the first anniversary of the launch of legal sports betting in Ontario, the province had 30 legal online sportsbooks. There was $35.6 billion in total wagers and $1.4 billion in total gaming revenue in the first year.
Ontario’s first full-service retail sportsbook, the Caesars Sportsbook at Caesars Windsor, officially opened to the public. Caesars Windsor is the largest casino resort in Canada.
2022: At the end of January, iGaming Ontario announces that it anticipates a launch of online sports betting on April 4. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario approves online sportsbooks for launch in early 2022.
As planned, Ontario becomes the first province in Canada to open its borders to commercial sportsbooks. The April 4 launch date includes BetMGM and Caesars, with an expectation for more than two dozen online books in the province.
By the end of 2022, 27 sports betting sites had launched in Ontario.
2021: C-218 — the single-game sports betting bill — clears Parliament. The bill receives full House approval in April, and it passes the Senate in June 2021. Individual provinces handle their regulations, with an effective date of Aug. 27. At that point, many provincial lotteries begin to offer betting.
Ontario moves forward with draft regulations for an open market, with books like PointsBet, BetRivers and DraftKings gearing up for launch.
2020: Private member Kevin Waugh introduces C-218 in February, but there is little action in 2020. The bill doesn’t get its second reading until nearly a year later in February 2021.
One notable development in 2020 came in June when multiple professional leagues jointly supported single-game betting in Canada.
2016: The decade’s second attempt to legalize single-game sports betting in Canada fails.
2012: An attempt to legalize single-game sports betting in Canada passes the House, but it goes no further. The Senate fails to act on the legislation for years.
2011: This year sees the introduction of an attempt to end the federal ban on single-game sports betting in Canada that would continue in 2012.
1992: ProLine officially launches in Ontario in October.
Ontario sports betting FAQ
You must be 19 or older and inside provincial borders to bet on sports online in Ontario (21+ with Caesars Sportsbook).
Sportsbooks will check where you are through geolocation. The software will require you to verify your location through your device’s GPS or a program you download to your phone or computer. You won’t be able to bet otherwise.
Yes. Your phone will work for sports betting anywhere you can connect to the internet. Most sportsbooks offer a downloadable app.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is the regulator for Ontario sports betting and its subsidiary, iGaming Ontario.
Mobile betting is available anywhere within the physical borders of Ontario. Note that you must enable geolocation on your device to verify you are in a legal location. You can wager online via more than two dozen sportsbook sites and in person through lottery retailers, at one retail sportsbook, or at kiosks in select casinos.
While daily fantasy sports contests are legal in Ontario, joining one is difficult, as top companies like DraftKings and FanDuel ended operations there before the online sports betting launch in 2022.
Ontario sports betting regulations don’t allow shared liquidity with other jurisdictions, so DFS contests must be geo-fenced within Ontario. That rule made it impossible for people in the province to participate, so the two major platforms shut down.